President’s Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
January 20, 2005
Let me begin by thanking you for the opportunity that you gave me through the extended educational leave to recharge my batteries and to do some writing. My goal was to write at least six to eight hours each day, a goal that I by and large met. I did take off two days to attend a meeting in Washington, took off two days to put up and take down Christmas decorations, and spent three days with my family at Christmas. Otherwise, I was very focused on my writing goals. I was successful in completing a first draft of a personal memoir which totals almost 300 pages at the present time. I did not write about my work with community colleges since I believe that work must be completed and some time must have passed to give me an appropriate perspective on the work and accomplishment of my tenure in this job before I write that chapter. Further revisions and additions to the existing draft, plus that chapter will probably result in a memoir of approximately 400 pages.
This wonderful opportunity would never have been possible without your having such a fantastic senior staff who could keep the train on the track and proceeding at the normal speed in my absence. They in turn were supported by a System Office staff that never missed a beat. I thank them as well as you for making this opportunity possible.
I do not have to tell you how valuable Fred Williams is to me and to the System. He is one of the finest leaders and administrators I know. I left the office with full confidence that whatever needed to be done in my absence Fred would take care of it. And he did!
I hope that you and your families were able to enjoy time together during the holidays. Our family was together for a wonderful time. We were especially grateful to Chairman Woody, Ann Turlington, and Hilda Pinnix-Ragland for joining the System Office staff at their annual holiday luncheon at Peace College. We all enjoyed the opportunity to be together.
Fred Williams represented the System and me at a number of events I would normally attend. These included the 2005 North Carolina Economic Forecast Forum sponsored by NC Citizens for Business and Industry and the NC Bankers Association. Fred also attended the welcoming reception for Dr. Deborah Lamm, the new president at Edgecombe Community College, and the farewell receptions for Dr. Kathy Johnson at Nash Community College and Dr. Mary Wood at James Sprunt Community College.
On the last day of November, Fred and I attended the NC Legislators Issues Retreat sponsored by the Hunt Institute and on the first day of December, Fred continued his participation in that retreat after my leave began.
I interrupted my educational leave to allow Fred to be with his family after Christmas and to make a presentation to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on our legislative priorities last week. The following day, Dr. Stuart Fountain and Peter Hans reported on the task force they co-chaired on university/community college cooperation. Their report was well done and well received.
Rosalyn Comfort and Dr. Saundra Williams continue to make progress in recruiting the additional staff members required to provide software and customer support for the CIS project. Out of the sixteen new positions authorized by the Office of the State Budget and Management, fourteen positions have been filled. Promoting well-qualified staff members within our System filled eight of those positions. Recruitment is now underway to fill the vacancies those promotions created.
Keith Brown continues his important work of developing, in cooperation with the Department of Public Instruction and the University of North Carolina, a plan for a K-20 data warehouse. Keith also has been asked again by the National Center for Educational Statistics to serve on a technical review panel in February to develop recommendations on new data tables to be published by the US Department of Education. This project is an outgrowth of a roundtable discussion facilitated by Keith at the National SHEEO meeting last April. He was one of three individuals representing community colleges from across the nation. Aren’t we proud of Keith?
Susan Seymour and the BioNetwork have issued round three requests for proposals for equipment and related facility enhancement projects. Later in the month RFPs will be issued for funding biotechnology innovation projects. The BioNetwork Centers of Competitiveness are making significant progress in their collaboration with other institutions and with recipients of previous funds. We have begun the work necessary to continue this exciting program when the Golden LEAF funding ends next summer.
We are pleased to announce that Willa Dickens has been employed as the new State Director of the Small Business Center Network. Willa comes to us from Halifax Community College where she has worked for a number of years in a variety of positions, including Small Business Center Director. We are counting on Willa to make significant progress with the General Assembly in funding your request for Small Business Center Network upgrades.
Larry Keen and his staff continue to be constantly challenged by requests for information and proposals with regard to industry recruitment across the state. His business seems to be booming.
In late November, Dr. Delores Parker’s division offered an orientation program for new Chief Academic Officers and new Chief Student Services Officers.
Wanda White, Director of Student Development Services, attended the US Department of Education’s Electronic Access Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada. This conference highlighted best practices, electronic process improvements, and program updates.
Dr. Delores Parker and Mike Pittman attended the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Annual Conference in Atlanta in early December.
Bob Allen, the Literacy Resource Center Director, attended the Literacy Information and Communication System Workshop in New Orleans.
Karen Yerby, Associated Director of Student Development Services, spoke on December 14 at the Department of Correction’s Going Home Initiative meeting.
Kennon Briggs has been working with Hockaday-Hunter & Associates and the Advisory Committee on the FTE Funding Formula Study mandated by the General Assembly. He has also been the point person for the Community College/University Study on Economic Development, which is now well underway. Many hours of meetings have already been attended with hundreds more to come.
Kennon has also been working with Senator David Hoyle and other legislators and community college leaders with regard to the Textile Center and its future.
Kennon spoke at the North Carolina Community Leadership program on our budget and budget process. At the meeting of Community College Trustees, Kennon reported on our Expansion Budget Request. A week later, he met one on one with a new Representative, Bill Faison, to talk about community college budget priorities.
One of the proposals under consideration by the FTE Funding Formula Study is an enrollment growth reserve. On January 12, Kennon reported on this proposal to the Education Oversight Committee and they have included this in their report to the General Assembly.
Kennon, Phil Albano and Sharon Rosado presented the Quarterly Report to the Higher Education Bond Oversight Committee in mid-December. The report was well received.
You can tell the General Assembly will be convening soon by the number of requests for information that we are receiving from legislators and legislative staff. Thanks to the educational leave you provided to me, I hope that I am fresh and well positioned to withstand the pressures of the upcoming General Assembly session. Suzanne Williams has had some health problems in the last month, so we are hoping that she will get healthy quickly so that she will be available to work with all of us on legislative priorities. The dinners for freshman members that Alice and I host begin next week.
Thank you again for the educational leave and best wishes for a prosperous, healthy and happy new year.
This page maintained by Chancy Kapp.